1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an apparatus and method for delivering an adhesive sheet into a mold.
2. Description of the Related Art
A current method of producing a shoe involves forming a sole by filling a mold with a liquefied polyurethane, closing the mold to apply pressure to the liquefied polyurethane, permitting the liquefied polyurethane to solidify, opening the mold, and removing the completed polyurethane sole. After the formation of the sole, a full wrap "vamp/moccasin" style upper portion of a shoe, called an "upper", is attached to the sole to form a completed shoe. The attachment of the upper involves spreading a glue onto the top of the sole as well as to the bottom of the upper. After the spreading of the glue, the upper is mounted onto the sole and both are placed in a clamp. Once the glue has dried, the upper and sole are removed from the clamp to complete the method.
Although the above method effectively produces a shoe, it suffers the disadvantage of requiring the use of a glue that includes volatile organic compounds. Volatile organic compounds are regulated substances requiring special handling as well as health and safety measures, such as special ventilation and fans, to protect the health of the employees. Consequently, the use of volatile organic compounds complicates the shoe formation process thereby increasing costs.
Accordingly, an apparatus implementing a method that reduces the amount of volatile organic compounds utilized during a shoe formation process will improve shoe manufacture.